Happy Monday!

Welcome back to another week of Ball Screen Monday. If you’re new to the newsletter, every Monday I deep dive into a different ball screen action or concept because I love ball screens & hate Mondays!

Anyway, this week we’re looking at how teams utilize Empty Corner Step-Ups in Transition & Early Offense. I’m a huge fan of this concept because of the way it creates space for the ball handler, opens up short-roll opportunities, and creates advantages before the defense is set.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

For this Ball Screen Monday, instead of breaking everything down by team, we’re going to break it into two different sections and combine clips from a variety of teams into each video.

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Empty Corner Step-Ups | Short-Roll Opportunities

We have a plethora of teams from all across the world utilizing this concept in transition and early-offense situations throughout these six clips, including:

• Mexico City Capitanes

• Filou Oostende

• TCU Horned Frogs

• Crelan Okapi Aalstar

• Argentina National Team

There are a few reasons why I feel like this action is so effective across different levels and leagues around the world.

Tag Angle in Transition

This type of action is already difficult to defend because of the angle at which the screen is set, but it becomes especially difficult when the action occurs against an unset defense. The natural rim protector in transition is now being forced to guard a ball screen action, and as a result, the other defenders are often not ready to rotate into the paint—especially in transition.

“Hot Stove” Screen Setting

Yet another buzzword I learned from Slappin’ Glass. The “Hot Stove” screen refers to how the screener treats the defender like a hot stove—quickly making contact and rolling as opposed to setting a more traditional screen.

Now, this detail isn’t consistent across every clip, but it can be seen throughout the majority of them.

Limited Rim Protection

I alluded to this earlier, but another reason these advantages are converted so effectively is the lack of rim protection at the basket. I attribute this to two different factors.

One is the overall pace of the action and the ability to take advantage of an unset defense. Traditional transition spacing has guards or floor spacers running to the corners by default, meaning you now often have a guard responsible for providing rim help as the MIG.

Additionally, you’ll see in the second Mexico City Capitanes clip that when the action is layered with a drag screen, the player who is probably better equipped to provide help at the rim is involved in the initial ball screen, making him late to rotate and provide help against the short roll.

Empty Corner Step-Ups | Ball Handler Space To Attack

There are some familiar teams in these clips, but also a few different ones:

• Filou Oostende

• Cameroon Senior Team

• Hood College

• Mexico City Capitanes

In the clips above, you’ll see the ball handler take advantage of the additional space created by this action. There are a couple of reasons why I think ball handlers are able to capitalize so effectively.

Pace

Probably the most obvious observation is that because these screens are set with pace and in transition, oftentimes the defending bigs are a step behind, allowing guards to step into 3s or get downhill.

High Screen Setup

Whether the actual ball screen itself is set high on the floor, the guard begins his attack high on the floor, or some combination of both, forcing defenders to guard that additional space makes for a significantly tougher cover.

Empty corner step-ups are a great example of how simple spacing and timing can create advantages before the defense ever has a chance to get organized. By flowing directly into the ball screen in transition or early offense, teams can attack a shifting defense, eliminate potential help from the corner, and give both the ball handler and roller space to play in a two-man game.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hopefully you learned something, and if not, that’s okay—at least you got to watch some basketball!

📅 Coming This Week

• Ball Screen Monday: Empty Corner Step-Ups in Transition/Early Offense

• Best of FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Window 4: A Collection of the Best Sets, Actions, & Concepts from FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Window 4

• Nagoya Diamond Dolphins Defensive Breakdown: Breaking Down the Best Defense from Japan’s B.League Premier

• Plus: Supplementary content on all of the listed above on X, Instagram & TikTok, & Youtube Shorts

🏀 Offensive Concept of the Week

Drop Coverage Solutions: Gortat Screen/Screen At The Basket

The FIBA World Cup Qualifiers Window 4 are in full swing, and there is arguably no better place to see the up-and-coming trends in basketball around the world firsthand.

Now, this isn’t necessarily a new concept, but it is one we have talked a lot about throughout my newsletters, and I love the way it was applied in this specific scenario. This week’s offensive concept looks at how a solution to drop coverage can be as simple as rolling to the basket & taking up space.

Serbia Senior Team | Drop Coverage Solutions - Roll + Screen At The Basket

The concept is pretty simple on film. After the ball screen occurs, the guard creates space, waits for the big to finish their roll, and cuts back in the opposite direction to use the big who has rolled as a screener once more. However, a lot has to go right in order for this to be effective.

As a ball handler, creating space is everything. This is generally a good rule of thumb with the majority of ball screens, but it is especially important with this concept. Space is important, but the ultimate goal is to eventually turn back across the lane, and in order to do that effectively, you need your defender on the run.

As a screener, fighting for the under (a new term I learned this week, thanks Slappin’ Glass) & forcing the guard over the top of the screen will ultimately help your guard create space. Since the defense is in drop, there’s a better chance the defender is going to try & fight over anyway. Additionally, and most importantly to the entire concept, is rolling hard & obviously fighting for position at the rim.

Nagoya Diamond Dolphins | Drop Solutions - Roll + Gortat Screen

Just wanted to provide another example of the concept. This possession did not end in a made basket, but it still highlights the effectiveness of how this action can be used against drop coverage.

🏀 Defensive Concept of the Week

UT Martin Switch Everything Defense

Shoutout to the Slappin’ Glass Podcast for being an infinite well of unique film study ideas. A few weeks ago, the Slappin’ Glass Podcast interviewed Jeremy Shulman, head coach of UT Martin. Coach Shulman went into great detail about his “switch everything” defense and its effectiveness at generating turnovers without being a pressure-heavy team.

UT Martin | Generating Turnovers - Switch Everything Defense

Genuinely one of the most unique defenses I have studied. It reminds me a lot of some of Scott Drew’s better Baylor defenses in a way.

My biggest takeaway from this style of defense is just how effectively it stalls offensive flow. Throughout these clips, you can see the offense processing decisions that they were not ready for. Additionally, you see teams trying to force mismatches that the UT Martin defense is well-equipped to handle, not only turning mismatches into turnovers but completely stopping offensive flow in its tracks.

Additionally, switching actions on the weak side allowed UT Martin to keep a gap-heavy presence, which, as you’ll see in the clips above, was effective in putting two on the ball when offenses tried to drive gaps.

Despite the lack of aggressive on-ball pressure, one detail that was present throughout the defensive clips above was “active hands.” Whether the switch came at the point of attack or on the weak side, you could see defenders causing hesitation & generating deflections through the use of active hands.

Last season, UT Martin would finish second in the conference in defensive TO% & first in PPP allowed. Truly an interesting deep dive and well worth the study as an unorthodox way to approach defense.

📊 Analytics Concept of the Week

The Importance of Half Court Efficiency

I feel like this one kind of goes without saying, but it is often overlooked when evaluating the success of an offense at a team level as well as a player level. For example, transition possessions generally yield more PPP given the nature of the possession and not having to go against a set defense. So, when evaluating prospects, it’s important to acknowledge this discrepancy. Let’s look at Billy Richmond & Otega Oweh, for example.

Billy Richmond shot 63.5% from inside the arc last season (84th %tile). If you take away transition & makes off putbacks, his percentage drops to 54.9% (62nd %tile). Now, this decrease in percentage will happen to basically every player at varying degrees, but when looking at someone like Richmond, who has 25.2% of his total FGAs come in transition (99th %tile), all of a sudden we’re looking at something more influential.

The same effect can be seen with someone like Otega Oweh. He shot 51.4% from 2 (68th %tile), but without transition & putbacks, his overall 2P percentage drops to 43.7% (49th %tile). Transition FGAs made up 20.5% of Oweh’s shot diet (89th %tile).

This is not to say that transition efficiency doesn’t matter, because it does. However, I just wanted to draw attention to the idea that a prospect’s numbers can be inflated by a college team’s style of play or mask a lack of ability to create advantages in the half court.

🎥 Move The Low Man Clip of the Week

Portland State | Ram Clear

If you ever wondered what a middle-third ball screen with all three other players on one side of the court would look like, well… now you know.

I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff recently about “unorthodox spacing” and its effectiveness in manipulating defenses by giving the action you’re running more space, so I thought of this play we ran last year.

We ran a lot of stuff out of this Ram action, but typically with both corners filled. The idea was to give our screener (#23) as much space as possible to roll, catch, & score. Because of the positioning of the screen in the middle third, the low man in this scenario has to respect a pass to the corner since he is essentially one pass away by the end of the ball handler’s drive. When you pair this with the baseline cut-through right before the screen occurs, it frees up the roll for a wide-open layup.

Thanks for reading this week’s Sunday Scout. I’ll see you Monday with Ball Screen Monday as we break down Empty Corner Step-Ups in Transition & Early Offense.

Crelan Okapi Aalst competes in the BNXT League, a cross-border professional basketball league featuring clubs from Belgium and the Netherlands. The Okapi put together one of the most impressive offensive seasons that I have studied.

As a team, the Okapi put up outstanding numbers all over the court:

Catch & Shoot 3s: 40.1% (99th %tile)
Unguarded Jump Shot Time%: 60.1% (97th %tile)
At-Rim PPS: 1.29 (89th %tile)
Half-Court PPP: 1.06 (100th %tile)

Needless to say, the Okapi scored the ball at a ridiculously high rate, putting up 93.6 points per game, which ranked 1st in the BNXT League.

There were a few other interesting aspects of Aalst’s offense. They ranked in the 98th %tile in PPP from their P&R Ball Handlers while also ranking in the 99th %tile in percentage of possessions used by a P&R Roll Man.

Lastly, as I alluded to earlier, they were elite at producing high-quality shots. Only 39.9% of their jump shots were considered “guarded” per Synergy, putting them in the bottom 2% in guarded jump-shot frequency—meaning they simply did not take many contested shots.

But how did they do it?

That is exactly the question we are going to answer throughout this deep dive, exploring the sets, concepts, & principles that made them so dangerous offensively.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Ball Screen Offense

This was the focal point of everything the Okapi did offensively. Aalst relied heavily on the ball-screen scoring ability of star guards Dante Maddox & Niels Van Den Eynde. Maddox & Van Den Eynde combined for 15.3 P&R Ball Handler possessions per game, putting up 1.12 & 0.96 PPP, respectively.

The scoring ability of the two guards was the perfect complement to the skilled bigs they were paired with. Ivan Maras & Mattias Palinckx handled the majority of the frontcourt scoring, producing 1.11 & 1.19 PPP as P&R Roll Men, respectively.

We’ll round out the personnel with wings Eddy Colbert & Siebe Ledgen, who shot 38.6% & 40.7% from 3, respectively.

Needless to say, when you paired that talent with the Okapi’s ball-screen flow, they were extremely difficult to guard.

Crelan Okapi Aalst | Ball Screen Flow - Empty Drags

The Okapi’s main source of continuous offense came from their ball-screen motion. A common possession would look something like this:

Early Empty Drag → Ball Reversal + Empty-Side Ball Screen → Ball Reversal + Middle-Third Ball Screen to a Side of 1

The Okapi were effective at scoring in all three portions of the motion. The first clips you’ll see above show the value of high screen-setting and pace after made baskets.

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Happy Monday! Welcome back to another week of Ball Screen Monday. If you’re new to the newsletter, every Monday I deep dive into a different ball screen action or concept because I love ball screens & hate Mondays!

Anyway, this week we’re looking at different sets & actions that teams use to create a “high tag.” The high tag within ball screen offense is often used to create more space at the rim and put the “tag” defender in a position where they’re unable to help on a rolling big.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Exit Screens

One of the most popular and effective ways of creating a high tag is through the use of the “Exit Screen.” Now, the exit screen itself doesn’t actually create the high tag, but paired with natural player movement—such as a simple DHO + Middle Step-Up—it creates a large gap & a lot of space for a rolling big to receive a pass at the rim.

Timing is a massive key to the success of an action like this. If the exit screen is not timed in coordination with the ball screen, defenses have an easier time switching out and remaining in the MIG.

The 2 clips you see above are examples of an effective set designed to exploit the high tag.

“Rolex” Action

Coined online as the “Rolex” Action, this set features a Double High Ball Screen + Exit Screen. I wanted to stay on theme with exit screens while showcasing a different example of how teams create high tags.

One thing I really like about both of these clips is how quickly the rolling bigs get out of the action and toward the rim. Not only does this create confusion for the defenders, but it also increases the success rate of the action because of how quickly the bigs get to the rim.

The ability to roll quickly is an undervalued skill, especially for bigs who are effective at creating rim pressure.

Iverson Actions

Moving on from exit screens, another way teams effectively create high tags is by simply taking advantage of natural player movement and exploiting defensive tendencies.

An Iverson action is a great way to create a high tag through this concept. As you can see in the 2 clips above, the tag defenders naturally follow their assignments out to the wing as they become one pass away. By the time they recognize it, the 5-man has already set the middle ball screen and is rolling toward the basket.

Louisville Cardinals | Wing Step-Up + Flare

I wanted to show this set from Louisville last year as an example of how a high tag can be created from a different angle. The concept remains the same: by effectively pulling the tag above the free-throw line, the slip to the basket becomes available.

In both clips, you’ll also notice the baseline runner, which is extremely important in making this action successful.

Portland State | High Tag Plays

If you made it this far into the article, thank you so much for reading! To finish up, I included 3 different sets that we ran when I was coaching at Portland State to create a high tag.

Three different sets, and all 3 create the high tag naturally through player movement.

Once again, if you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hopefully you learned something, and if not, that’s okay—at least you got to watch some basketball!

📅 Coming This Week

• Ball Screen Breakdown: Ways To Create a High Tag (Substack)

• Crelan Okapi Aalst: The BNXT League’s Most Efficient Offense (Substack)

• Plus: Supplementary content on all of the listed above on X, Instagram & TikTok, & Youtube Shorts

🏀 Offensive Concept of the Week

Top Lock Reads & Counters

The “Top Lock” is a common defensive strategy used for a variety of different reasons. It is most commonly deployed by defenses to slow down an offense’s half-court attack & deny specific players the ball, often times these players being the offensive team’s best player or best shooter, or some combination of both.

This week, we are taking a quick look at the different strategies teams are using to counter this type of coverage.

Teams typically will leverage the defender’s positioning in one of 2 ways: to change the angle of the action to force the defender to be a step late, or to use the offensive player as a screen and take advantage of allowing an offensive player to come off a ball screen or off-ball screen with no help.

Top Lock Reads: Back Cut + Gut Action

In the video above, we have 3 different examples of how teams will take advantage of a Top Lock in order to still find a way to get the original player in the action the ball. The most common way this is done is by turning the action from a top-to-wing entry into a middle 3rd Gut Action.

In the first 2 clips, you’ll see Golden State & Belmont both running Point Actions to start the action and seamlessly turn the play into a Gut Pin Down. In the last clip, Nebraska runs a similar concept, but out of a Stagger Away.

In all of the clips, you’ll notice how the defenders guarding the action end up a step behind because of the new angle of the screen + the contact lost after the back cut.

Top Lock Reads: Ball Screens & Off-Ball Screens

In these clips, you’ll see 3 different ways teams turned Top Locks into screening advantages with ball screens & off-ball screens.

In the first 2 clips, you’ll see Golden State & Lithuania U20 both utilize ball screen actions to counter Top Locks. Both are effective in creating advantages because the defenders who would most naturally be the show in the ball screen coverage are on the wrong side to help as a result of the Top Lock positioning.

Similarly, in the last clip, Nebraska takes advantage of the defender’s Top Lock positioning and is able to essentially screen 2 defenders to free up the open catch & shoot 3 opportunity.

🏀 Defensive Concept of the Week

Tokyo Alvark: Limiting Catch & Shoot 3s & Transition Offense

The Tokyo Alvark compete in Japan’s B.League Premier (Japan’s top league) and constructed one of the best defenses from last season. The Alvark were particularly successful in 2 major areas: limiting catch & shoot 3s (specifically open ones) & limiting transition opportunities for their opponents.

The official defensive rankings were as follows:

- Least amount of 3PAs
- 2nd best in 3P% given up
- Least amount of C&S shots given up
- Least amount of unguarded C&S 3s given up
- 2nd least in %Time transition - 5th in PPP
- 2nd least in %Time Spot-Up possession - 5th in PPP

The Alvark were able to limit the amount of two of the highest-yielding PPS/PPP opportunities (Unguarded Catch & Shoot FGAs & Transition Possessions) at a high level, thus allowing them to be one of the best defenses from last season.

Tokyo Alvark | Limiting Transition Opportunities

Through my observation, I found that the main ways the Alvark limited transition opportunities were early pickup points, trail defender help, & no help from advance opportunities.

The Alvark defense was often seen picking up ball handlers in transition early, often times at, just before, or just after half-court.

It wasn’t always the assigned on-ball defender, though. In the clips above, you’ll often see the defender guarding whoever is the trail offensive player show chest and stunt at the ball handler, which often caused them to slow down.

Additionally, the Alvark were a limited gap-help team, which also contributed to their ability to limit catch & shoot 3s. Defenders responsible for players up the floor were seen attached pretty early, which limited opportunities to advance the ball up the floor.

Tokyo Alvark | Limiting Catch & Shoot FGAs

One major way the Alvark were able to limit Catch & Shoot FGAs was through their limited gap-help principles. Defenders in gaps were often seen very hugged up to their assignment, often times showing their chest to the ball in order to further deter an opportunity to make a pass to a teammate.

Pair this with their switch-heavy ball screen principles & offenses found themselves forcing mismatch opportunities often.

If you want a more in-depth analysis of the Alvark’s defense, I have attached a link to my YouTube breakdown from last week that goes more in depth on all of the principles that made the Alvark a good defensive team.

📊 Analytics Concept of the Week

Percentage of Assisted Field Goals & What It Tells Us About Self Creation

An analytical statistic that has gained a lot of attention over recent years is ASTD%, which essentially is just how often a player’s made field goals are assisted compared to how often they are not. Ajay Mitchell made this statistic famous.

The 6’4” guard out of UC Santa Barbara was a 2nd-round selection in the 2024 NBA Draft. This past season, Mitchell averaged 13.6 points in around 25.8 minutes and has been a major contributor to the Thunder’s success the past 2 seasons.

There were a number of indicators as to why Mitchell would excel in the NBA, but many pointed to ASTD% as an indicator of his ultimate success in the league. Mitchell was assisted on just under 7% of his 2FGMs, which would rank in the bottom 6th percentile.

Now, this isn’t to say that prospects who do score as a result of an assist aren’t valuable or won’t be stars in the league because everything has context, and certain roles, archetypes, etc. require players to thrive in more complementary roles in order to be successful.

On the flip side, let’s take Chris Cenac from this year’s draft class. He was assisted on 71.7% of his 2FGMs. Like I said earlier, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to score off of assisted baskets, but ultimately people have used this stat with a player like Chris Cenac as a hindrance to his superstar potential.

🎥 Move The Low Man Clip of the Week

TCU Horned Frogs | Swing Step-Up + Exit

A lot of details I love about this play. The exit screen does a great job of pulling the tag out of the paint and drawing attention away from the rim.

Additionally, the setup of this play naturally creates a high tag, which makes it even harder to cover the roll on this particular set.

I’ve talked a lot about teams running sets out of this alignment on the FIBA scene, so if you’re interested in more ways that teams use this concept, you can check out some of my other posts here.

Caden Hoffman

Best of FIBA U17 Ball Screen Offense

Lessons from the FIBA U17 World Cup…

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2 months ago · 5 likes · Caden Hoffman

Thanks for reading this week’s Sunday Scout. I’ll see you later this week for a Ball Screen Breakdown as we break down Creating a High Tag, just like the set you see above.

Lithuania took home 9th place in this year’s EuroBasket U20 tournament, but it wasn’t because of a lack of offensive firepower. Lithuania led the tournament in PPG at 89.1, and oftentimes we inherently associate lots of points with elite transition offenses because of the increase in pace.

However, in Lithuania’s case, it goes deeper than just pushing the pace off of opponents’ misses. Don’t get me wrong, Lithuania was still atop the tournament in transition efficiency. They ranked 4th in Transition PPG & 5th in % of possessions. However, to get a complete grasp on what made Lithuania so dynamic, you have to look at their half-court offense as well.

Lithuania showcased an offensive system that prioritized pace & 3-point shooting in the half court. They ranked 1st in overall possessions per game & 2nd in half-court possessions per game, largely due to their willingness to take 3s early in the shot clock as well as offensive rebound at a very high rate. Lithuania ranked 2nd in OReb/G & 1st in 3PAs/G.

Some other statistics worth noting:

• Lithuania was the only team to rank in the top 5 in both Transition & Half Court possessions per game.

• Lithuania ranked 1st in 3FGM/G.

• They were one of 2 teams to have at least 4 players average at least 10 Points/G.

• Lithuania ranked 1st in P&R Ball Handler PPP & eFG%.

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into what made Lithuania U20’s offense so dynamic, breaking down the sets, concepts, and actions they utilized throughout the tournament. Be ready for a heavy dose of drag screens, complementary actions within ball screens, lots of 3s, and a couple of unique ATOs that you’ll want to see at the end of the article.

Without further ado, let’s dive in.

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So I know officially this segment is titled “Ball Screen Monday,” and a lot of these clips won’t technically be ball screens, but they’re all in the same family, so cut me some slack.

Anyway, this week we’re going to look at different ways teams utilize Pistol, Get Game, & empty corner step-ups early in offensive possessions to generate advantages & initiate conceptual flow on offense.

This is one of my favorite ways I’ve seen teams seamlessly flow into conceptual offense because of the pressure it puts on defenders early in possessions & how it allows offenses to flow into their next action without losing time on the shot clock.

Dallas Wings | Empty Side - Get Game

The Dallas Wings are an excellent case study when it comes to free-flowing conceptual offense. Under Coach Fernandez, their offensive style is often referred to as “positionless” largely due to the diversity of how & where their creation on offense comes from.

The Wings are at the top of the league in Transition efficiency & usage at 1.15 PPP on 16.9% of their possession % usage (93rd %tile) per Synergy. Additionally, they rank at the top of the league in P&R Ball Handler efficiency at 0.92 PPP (93rd %tile) & Handoff usage at 6.5% of their possession % usage (93rd %tile), so it’s no surprise to see this action as a staple of their offense.

They often use this concept to push pace off made baskets, get their two main creators in action (37.4% & 21.5% OnBall%, respectively, via DataBallr.com) in Bueckers & Shepard, and also as a way to initiate their conceptual flow when the initial advantage doesn’t present itself.

I like this concept a lot for a couple of different reasons.

Empty Side Corner

The additional space allows the 2-man game more room to operate and options for which side of the floor to attack. Additionally, if the ball does change sides of the floor, there are more options in the variety of actions that can unfold with 3 players on the opposite side of the floor.

Leveraging Skill

Because Shepard & Bueckers are both dynamic creators, using a “Get” makes Bueckers harder to guard because of the freedom of movement now that she does not have the ball in her hands, but also makes the ensuing handoff more difficult to guard because it forces the defending big to respect Shepard’s ability to keep and drive it herself.

Akron Zips | Empty Corner Get Game & Step-Ups

Akron applied a similar offensive concept. Leveraging dynamic scorers in Tavari Johnson & Shammah Scott, combined with skilled connectors in Evan Mahaffey & Amani Lyles, this concept yielded a ton of success for an offense that thrived in conceptual flow.

Attacking the outer third proved very effective for Akron. Aggressive coverages struggled to contain their quick guards. Additionally, short rolls are a tough cover when the floor is spaced in this alignment, forcing teams that liked to put 2 on the ball to plan accordingly.

I think one difference to point out between the Wings clips and the Akron clips is the difference in pace. Akron’s overall flow into Gets & Handoffs is a little slower than the clips from the Dallas Wings. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of clips of Akron playing fast, considering they were T-25 in both Transition frequency & efficiency.

But I wanted to highlight how oftentimes we see pace so emphasized in ball screen actions and how that is hardly the make-or-break detail that determines success in ball screen actions. Whether it’s pace into the action, pace of the screener running into the screen, or pace of the ball handler getting off the screen, all are things that can help contribute to the success of an action, but hardly the only way. Screening angle, multiple screens, & the spot on the court that the action occurs are all factors that contributed to the success of the actions seen in the Akron clips, even if they weren’t necessarily run “fast.”

Miami Ohio | Empty Corner Step-Up - Flow into Conceptual Flow

Another high-powered college offense, Miami Ohio used this concept as well. I liked this clip to demonstrate how, even when an initial advantage may not present itself, it is a great way to layer actions to set up other offensive actions.

Miami ran a lot of 5-out concepts, and that is demonstrated in this clip.

Dallas Wings | Transition Empty Side - Get Game

Moving on to Transition, I pulled 3 different clips of 3 different ways that the Wings utilized this concept in transition to showcase how versatile a simple action can be in creating multiple different advantages in transition when you don’t necessarily have a numbers advantage.

Empty Side Re-Screen

One of the most underutilized parts of Get Game actions is that if the initial advantage isn’t there, the option to hit the 5 again and reuse the handoff is always there.

5 Man Push

It helps when you have skilled ball handlers at the 5, but the ability to flow into this action without slowing down because of a backward outlet turns this action from a half-court concept into a full-court one.

Inverted Get

I just thought this last clip was interesting in the way that Shepard pushes it herself and flows into a 5/4 Get. The pace and timing of this action don’t allow the Fire to switch their 5 back onto Shepard and create the mismatch.

Miami Ohio | Empty Corner Step-Up + Hammer

Last but certainly not least, it wouldn’t be one of my newsletters without an offensive quick hitter. Just thought this was an effective way to utilize a Get to an empty corner and how you can pair other actions with it simultaneously.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hopefully you learned something, and if not, that’s okay—at least you got to watch some basketball!

📅 Coming This Week

• Monday: Ball Screen Monday — Early Offense Pistol/Empty Corner Actions (Substack)

• Tuesday: Tokyo Alvark Defensive Breakdown: Limiting Open Catch & Shoot Attempts and Transition Offense (YouTube)

• Thursday: Lithuania U20: How Lithuania Led the U20s in PPG (Substack)

• Friday: Lithuania U20: How Lithuania Led the U20s in PPG (YouTube)

• Plus: Supplementary content on all of the listed above on X, Instagram & TikTok, & Youtube Shorts

🏀 Offensive Concept of the Week

Short Roll Spacing & the Importance of Occupying the Dunker Spot

The short roll evolution has made its way across all realms of the basketball world. Seemingly every game features sets, actions, & reads designed to play out of this play type. Ultimately, that means there are a never-ending multitude of new ways coaches are utilizing it on offense as the action continues to grow in popularity.

Today, I wanted to start simple & showcase one simple way to maximize advantages through the short roll. Last week, we talked about Gortat Screens & how occupying the paint can actually help improve efficiency in middle ball screens.

We are staying on theme this week as we look at another way that maximizing space through 5-Out formations may not always be optimal.

Cleveland Cavaliers | Dunker-to-Dunker Movement

The Cavs were one of the best teams in the NBA at utilizing the short roll. Their personnel was perfect for it. Elite Iso/Ball Screen Guards, Jumbo Skilled Forward, Lob Threat 5, & Floor Spacing Wings.

Allen’s positioning is important because of the stress it puts on natural “help & sink” defensive principles.

In both of these clips, Anunoby steps up to cover the short roll. In most defensive situations, the following rotation would be whoever is guarding the weakside defender “sinking” to cover Allen at the dunker. However, because Allen is so close to the rim, it asks the help defender to completely abandon his assignment. Additionally, Allen’s movement along the baseline makes it difficult to decipher which side the “sink” would naturally come from and also makes it harder for Anunoby to play 2 because he doesn’t know where Allen is.

Michigan Wolverines | Above The Free Throw Line Spacing

The same concept is demonstrated by the national champion Wolverines from a season ago, once again showcasing how packing the paint can be an effective way to operate out of short roll scenarios.

One detail I wanted to highlight about the Wolverines is how they lift the players on the wings above the free throw line. This concept is more apparent in the first clip, but also appears in the second clip. However, because the ball screen occurs more on the side, the strong side corner cannot lift any higher.

I really liked this little detail because not only does it act as a better release outlet against aggressive ball screen coverages, but it also pulls the help away from the basket, so when the ball does go to the short roll, there is no one to help on the 2-on-1 advantage at the rim.

Germany U18 | Impossible Tag

Last but certainly not least, just another example of Germany U18 utilizing this concept from the U18 EuroBasket. Two things I really liked about this clip.

First is how the player in the Dunker Spot shifts to the strong side. This not only makes himself more available to receive a pass from the ball screen guard, but also puts himself in a position that essentially makes him “untaggable.” Naturally, the guard defending the strong side would sink to help because he is closest, but having to shift from being in the gap one pass away to covering the dunker is a tough rotation.

Second, Lucai Anderson is Germany’s leading scorer. He is positioned in the weakside corner. Just a good example of how leveraging your best player’s gravity away from the ball can open up opportunities.

🏀 Defensive Concept of the Week

The Importance of Being a “Decision Maker” on Defense

Last week, we talked about Iowa State and how they “created collisions” at the point of attack. We’re going to stay on theme for this week as well and highlight another snippet from Coach TJ Otzelberger’s interview on the Slappin’ Glass Podcast. Coach Otz refers to their play 2 defender guarding weakside action as the “Spy” and how important it is within their defensive scheme to trust their Spies to be good decision makers.

Iowa State | Weakside Skip Steals

I pulled 3 clips demonstrating how the Cyclones are effective at generating steals on outer third drives via their early and aggressive help & active weakside play 2 coverage.

One detail I noticed was that in each of these clips, the “Spies” completely face the ball, prioritizing seeing the ball handler as opposed to seeing both their current assignment and the ball.

Iowa State | PNR Rotations

Coach Otzelberger wasn’t specifically referencing ball screen defense in that portion of his Slappin’ Glass episode, but I included an additional 3 clips of how important it is to be a good “decision maker” in ball screen defense as well.

Iowa State is known for their ultra-aggressive, put-2-on-the-ball style of ball screen defense, so relying on the other 3 players on the court to fly around and make the correct decisions is vital to the success of their defense.

I think my biggest takeaway is how committed they are to understanding that in a scramble situation, they are no longer responsible for just one offensive player & they execute that at a high level.

📊 Analytics Concept of the Week

Turnover Impact on Offense

I thought this would be a good topic for this week given all of the recent discourse about Jaylen Brown’s analytical impact.

Turnover impact gets amplified in the NBA because of the volume of possessions compared to the college game, but controlling the ball and winning the possession game is still equally, if not more, important in the college game.

In today’s game, it’s not good enough to evaluate players merely off of Turnovers/G anymore. It paints too small of a picture. Assessing variables such as usage, role, style of play, etc. are all pieces of the puzzle that should be considered when looking at how much or how little a player turns it over.

For example, a lot of the negative discourse that surrounded Jaylen Brown was his negative impact on offensive turnover value. Bearing the majority of the Celtics’ possessions, it is extremely important that a certain percentage of those possessions end in shots as opposed to TOs.

I pulled this from a tweet from databallr. It highlights the importance of ball security relative to overall possession usage and how Brown fell short compared to some of the other superstars around the league.

All this being said, I am not a Jaylen Brown hater by any means, but I thought this was a good example to help illustrate the importance of TO Value.

TO% is not a perfect stat. It does do a really good job of painting a “bigger” picture than something like TOs/G when looking at a player’s ability to control possessions. Playmaking isn’t measured as accurately as it could be through a stat like TO% because the formula itself is directly impacted by each time you shoot. This makes it really good for what we talked about earlier when evaluating high-usage scorers, but ultimately falls slightly short when assessing playmaking.

For those interested, databallr.com does an oTOV stat that is basically a +/- turnover evaluator that is lineup adjusted. Super interesting way to assess turnover value and be able to apply a number to it.

🎥 Move The Low Man Clip of the Week

Minnesota Lynx | Spain - Pin Slip

This week’s Move The Low Man clip of the week comes from the WNBA. Really like this action that effectively pulls the low tag out of the Spain action and frees up a rolling Collier to the rim.

Some things to consider. McBride had made 9 3’s up to this point in the game, which forces Bueckers to lock & trail. Miles does a great job occupying the ball screen defenders in order to give both McBride & Collier time to execute the pin down and ensuing roll. Lastly, Williams on the weakside stays lifted out of the dead corner, which keeps the tag pulled farther away from the basket, making it a harder tag.

Thanks for reading this week’s Sunday Scout. I’ll see you Monday with Ball Screen Monday as we break down Early Offense Pistol & Get Game Concepts.

Slovenia took home gold at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket, knocking off Italy in the championship game last week. The tournament's most efficient offense posted tournament highs in both eFG% (52.0%), TO% (11.0%) & At Rim FG% (63.9). That ultimately contributed to a tournament-best 0.995 PPP. The Slovenian offense was headlined by future 2027 NBA Draft lottery pick Stefan Joksimovic. The trio of Joksimovic and fellow teammates Igor Stjepanovic and Maks Ciperle spearheaded an offense that, simply put, was one of the best I've analyzed in recent memory.

In this article, we'll take a deep dive into what made Slovenia U18's offense so dynamic, breaking down the sets, concepts, and actions they utilized throughout the tournament. Be ready for a heavy dose of spacing concepts, layered offensive actions, conceptual sets, and plenty of Stefan Joksimovic highlights.

Without further ado, let’s dive in

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Go-To Sets & Reads

If I’m being honest, there’s quite a lot to unpack when looking at everything Slovenia did well offensively, so we’re going to jump around quite a bit throughout this article.

I want to start with a few key actions and sets that Slovenia relied on throughout the tournament, why they kept going back to them, and what made them so effective.

Slice - Ram Ghost + Gortat

One of my favorite actions Slovenia ran throughout the tournament. One of the most common questions coaches ask when building an offense is, “How can we create more double gaps?” This set is a great way to do exactly that.

I thought it was interesting that the offensive player coming off the Ram screen doesn’t even get close to the ball-handler. Instead, he simply clears the side. It’s a difficult action for the on-ball defender, who is suddenly forced to defend a much larger amount of space than anticipated.

What makes this set even more effective is the Gortat screen at the rim. A concept that continues to grow in popularity, the Gortat screen is essentially screening your own defender to eliminate rim help.

I love how Slovenia utilized this concept by taking advantage of opposing bigs playing up the line. Instead of simply spacing to the dunker spot, they used the Gortat screen to maintain the advantage if the timing was right.

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Happy Monday! Welcome to another edition of Ball Screen Monday!

This week, we’re taking a look at Twisting Side Ball Screens & the Importance of Rejecting the Twist.

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The primary team we’ll focus on is Serbia U17, a team I’ve highlighted in previous posts, specifically the way they manipulate screening angles by twisting side ball screens toward the outer third of the floor.

Serbia U17 won’t be the only team featured in this article, though. We’ll also look at examples from several other teams to show how this concept translates across different levels of basketball.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Serbia U17 🇷🇸 - Touch Flare - Twist Step-Up

One of my favorite sets I’ve seen recently because it goes against traditional defensive principles, while also serving as a great example of how effective twisting side ball screens can be.

Serbia, in particular, liked to play to the outer third in many of their ball screen actions. Their guards and rolling bigs were comfortable making plays in space and consistently put opposing ball screen defenses into rotation throughout the tournament.

This action was effective against both aggressive and conservative coverages because of how it utilized the twist screen.

Aggressive coverages (like you’ll see in the second and third clips) were caught anticipating a middle ball screen. Once the twist occurred, it effectively removed the big who was preparing to show, leaving the defense out of position.

More conservative coverages struggled as well. Even in drop coverage, teams had difficulty containing Serbia’s guards and the decisions they made out of this action because of the additional space created by the twist.

Serbia U17 🇷🇸 - Touch Flare - Twist Step-Up - Reject

Transitioning to the second part of this week’s Ball Screen Monday.

As teams began anticipating the twist, they often cheated the action by taking away the sideline. However, as shown above, that frequently created an advantage attacking back toward the middle of the floor.

Rejected Twist - Serbia U17, Los Angeles Lakers, & Iowa Hawkeyes

To wrap up this week’s Ball Screen Monday, I’ve included three examples from Serbia, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Iowa that demonstrate how effective rejecting the twist can be.

A few things to watch that made these plays successful:

High Screen Set-Up

All of these ball screens occur well behind the three-point line. Because contact between the on-ball defender and the screener often never actually occurs, the additional space created before the rejection helps maximize the advantage.

Attacking the Double Gap

By rejecting the screen, the ball-handler naturally attacks the double gap.

Twisting the ball screen is especially effective because it creates that double gap organically within the offense. No additional movement is required to generate the advantage, which is often the case with many other concepts.

Driving Angle

Straight-line drives to the basket are difficult to create, especially in ball screen situations.

All three ball-handlers understand the importance of driving angle and pace, which is a major reason these possessions end in layups. Making the decision in a split second—while recognizing that the on-ball defender is already anticipating help because they expect the screen—is critical to the success of this concept.

Teaching guards to recognize and exploit these moments can create countless easy scoring opportunities.

The smallest details often create the biggest advantages. Twisting the screen changes the angle, but recognizing when to reject it is what turns a good action into a great possession.

One of my favorite parts of studying basketball is realizing that the smallest details often have the biggest impact. This week, we’ll look at a handful of concepts that may seem subtle on the surface but consistently create winning possessions.

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📅 Coming This Week

• Monday: Ball Screen Monday — Twisting Side Ball Screens + Reject Twisting Screens (Substack)

• Tuesday: How UC Irvine led the country in Kills - 3 Stops in a Row (YouTube)

• Thursday: Slovenia U18: Breaking down the U18s Most Efficient Offense (Substack)

• Friday: Slovenia U18: Breaking down the U18s Most Efficient Offense (YouTube)

• Plus: Supplementary content on all of the listed above on X, Instagram & TikTok, & Youtube Shorts

🏀 Offensive Concept of the Week

How occupying the paint can actually open up more scoring opportunities during middle ball screens.

The Gortat Screen is no secret to anyone who follows high-level basketball. Popularized by Marcin Gortat (hence the name), the Gortat Screen involves "screening your own" or sealing/posting up to remove rim help as a drive to the basket occurs.

While deep-diving into the most efficient offense from the U18 World Cup, Slovenia (which we'll cover much more later this week), I found multiple examples of this concept that were worth sharing.

Slovenia U18🇸🇮 - Middle Third Ball Screens + Gortat (Remove Rim Help)

This concept is so effective for a couple of reasons.

1. Removing Rim Help

The most obvious benefit from the Slovenia clips is the ability to eliminate rim protection and create cleaner opportunities at the basket.

2. Aggressive Ball Screen Coverage Counter

I also like this concept because of its ability to counter aggressive ball screen coverages.

The goal of a blitz or fire coverage is to get the ball out of your primary playmaker’s hands. This concept helps keep the ball in the hands of the player you want while still generating an advantage through screening—especially when paired with a guard-to-guard ghost screen or another action that creates an early advantage before the drive.

Portland State - Middle Third + Gortat (Remove MIG Help)

Another reason this concept is effective is its ability to remove MIG/low-man help.

We utilized this action frequently during my time at Portland State and found that, even when the ball screen coverage did a good job containing the initial action, other opportunities often presented themselves because of the Gortat Screen.

Our variation looked slightly different from the Slovenia clips, but the principle of screening your own defender at the basket remained the same.

Portland State - Middle Third + Gortat (Duck-In)

Lastly, another popular option for us came when defenses weren’t as aggressive getting to the high side or simply got caught sleeping.

When given the opportunity, we liked using this action to generate a quick post touch. With proper timing, it was extremely effective because it happened so quickly that defenses couldn’t help or dig into the post.

🏀 Defensive Concept of the Week

Creating collisions on defense and how emphasizing physicality early can create disruption.

Shoutout to Slappin’ Glass for this one.

This past week, Slappin’ Glass featured TJ Otzelberger of Iowa State on its weekly podcast. One of the defensive principles Otz emphasized was creating collisions at the point of attack.

He defined a collision as getting your chest into the ball handler on their first dribble while simultaneously throwing your hands high.

Iowa State - Creating Collisions

I pulled together a few clips that I thought were great examples of creating collisions.

These include situations involving short-roll help, closeouts, and MIG help.

The biggest takeaway for me is how disruptive these defenders are even when they aren’t necessarily the primary defender at the point of attack.

When the offense gains a step, they’re able to recover without fouling by keeping their chest on the ball handler while maintaining high hands throughout the possession.

There are also several good examples of defenders establishing legal guarding position early and disrupting the offense immediately upon the catch.

📊 Analytics Concept of the Week

Offensive Rebound % and Why it Matters

I wanted to keep things relatively simple for the first edition, so I thought it would be fun to begin introducing an analytics concept each week.

Team ORB% is simply the percentage of your team’s missed shots that result in an offensive rebound.

At the college level, anything above roughly 32% ORB% is generally considered very good (around the 75th percentile), while anything above 35% is elite.

From a player perspective, ORB% estimates the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabs while they are actually on the floor. It only accounts for possessions in which that player is playing—not the team’s total offensive rebounds.

Why It Matters

ORB% is a much better way to answer the question, “Did we actually crash the offensive glass?”

Team A may play in a faster-paced game with more possessions and more missed shots, naturally leading to a higher raw offensive rebound total (theoretically).

Team B may finish with fewer offensive rebounds overall but post a higher ORB%, indicating they actually rebounded available misses more effectively.

The same principle applies to player evaluation.

Raw offensive rebounds and ORB% often align closely, but ORB% becomes especially useful when evaluating reserve bigs who don’t play 30 minutes per game or guards and wings who may not accumulate large rebounding totals but consistently create extra possessions when they’re on the floor.

🎥 Move The Low Man Clip of the Week

Since the newsletter is called Move The Low Man, I figured there was no better way to wrap up the Sunday Scout than with a clip featuring a unique way offenses actually move the low man.

Slovenia U18🇸🇮 Empty Drag - 45 Collide + Corner Lift

I really like this off-ball movement concept paired with empty-corner ball screens.

It’s a simple way to prevent defenses from loading up by creating a one-pass-away closeout if the ball is kicked to the player lifting out of the corner, while also generating physical contact through the 45-cut.

Thanks for reading this week's Sunday Scout. I'll see you Monday with Ball Screen Monday as we break down Twisting Side Ball Screens and Reject Twists.

Following the 2026 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, I went back and rewatched a large portion of the tournament to evaluate some of the top prospects from around the world. Below are the players who stood out most to me, along with a few thoughts on what impressed me about their games. These are not rankings, but rather scouting notes on prospects whose performances or long-term upside caught my attention.

United States

Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje 7’0” - 2009 - Scoring Stretch Big

• Exactly as advertised. Averaged a double-double over the course of the tournament while shooting 64% from two, 53.1% from three, and 88% from the free-throw line. The combination of fluidity as a ball handler at his size and strength is special. For those unfamiliar, he is THAT GOOD.

Beckham Black 6’3” - 2009 - Point Guard

• A remarkably talented passer. That was probably my favorite aspect of his game. There were essentially no deficiencies in his playmaking ability. In transition, out of ball screens, late-clock situations, and on rim assists, he showcased the full package while averaging 8.3 assists per game.

Cayden Daughtry 6’0” - 2009 - Point Guard

• An incredibly quick and prolific scorer—probably one the most talented pure scorers in the event. Played through contact extremely well and took calculated risks as a ball handler that consistently paid off, creating advantages out of seemingly nothing.

Anthony Williams 6’7” - 2009 - Floor Spacing Wing

• Put together the best three-point shooting performance for Team USA (outside of Boumtje Boumtje), averaging 9.95 3PA/40 while shooting 42.4%. Also posted an outstanding 7.1% turnover rate. He wasn’t a primary ball handler, but his usage extended well beyond spot-up situations, making that turnover rate even more impressive.

Australia

Luke Paul 6’5” - 2009 - Point Guard

• So much to like about Luke Paul (15.3 PPG, 7.1 APG). He has tremendous upside as both a ball-screen scorer and playmaker. His ability to keep advantages alive is especially impressive. Even when defenses appeared to have him contained, he consistently kept his feet moving downhill, forcing help defenders to collapse for too long. That not only allowed him to get to the rim but also created quality opportunities for his teammates.

Yahya Basaran 7’0” - 2009 - Rim-Rolling 5

• A seven-footer with good feet and excellent problem-solving ability around the basket. Finished extremely well even on non-dunk twos. Also flashed some ball-handling and playmaking ability as Australia used him as a connector in its Princeton elbow series. His frame is still relatively light, but his mobility more than compensated whenever additional strength would have helped.

Antonio Browne 6’4” - 2009 - Secondary Creator

• Operated as both a primary and secondary ball handler. Extremely crafty in ball screens, consistently turning the corner and beating coverages at one of the highest rates in the tournament. Posted a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio with very few live-dribble turnovers.

John Aryang 6’7” - 2009 - Slashing Wing

• Relatively raw from a skill standpoint, but flashed some absolutely ridiculous upside throughout the tournament. Plays with a nonstop motor and is an outstanding athlete. Whenever he got downhill in transition or attacked closeouts, he produced numerous highlight dunks. Also showed good instincts as a cutter and finisher around the paint. Improving his three-point shot will be the biggest key to unlocking his potential, but the foundation is definitely there.

China

Boxin Zhao 7’1” - 2010 - Around-The-Basket 5

• A skilled seven-footer who is still only 15 years old. Sets good screens and rolls well. He didn’t attempt many threes, but he shot 66.7% on the tournament. I think his greatest upside comes defensively. Averaged 6.67 blocks per 40 minutes and was an outstanding ball-screen defender. His active hands consistently disrupted actions in pick-and-roll coverage and on closeouts after switching onto guards.

Yizhaojie Zhang 6’7” - 2010 - Slashing Wing

• China’s leading scorer, listed at 6’7” and only 16 years old. Outside of an underwhelming three-point percentage, Zhang was an extremely efficient scorer, shooting 52.8% from two and 86.7% from the free-throw line. Considering how much he played off the ball, averaging 3.6 assists per game was especially impressive. He displayed a diverse scoring profile around the basket and was excellent attacking closeouts.

France

Nathan Soliman 6’9” - 2009 - Scoring Wing

• One of the most efficient high-volume scorers in the tournament. Showed good pace and handle at 6’9”, and from what I’ve seen, this area of his game has improved significantly. He’s also an impressive vertical athlete with a smooth-looking jump shot. The biggest standout, however, was his defensive footwork. His quick feet, ability to flip his hips, and ability to stay in front of perimeter players make him an incredibly versatile defender.

Messi Yangala 6’8” - 2009 - Forward

• A very intriguing prospect with a diverse scoring profile. Extremely efficient as a cutter, roll man, transition scorer, and offensive rebounder. A bit of a wild card at times, but he’s a tremendous athlete with impressive defensive instincts. There’s a lot of upside on the defensive end.

Italy

Simone Ventura 6’6” - 2009 - Secondary Creator

• A very talented scorer and one of the best problem solvers around the basket and when attacking closeouts. Recorded three 20-point games, including one against the United States. One of the tournament’s best transition scorers, producing 1.58 PPP in transition. Listed at 6’6” with good athleticism. I’d like to see continued development as a ball-screen scorer and playmaker.

Serbia

Nikola Kusturica 6’7” - 2009 - Two-Way Point Forward

• The biggest stock riser of the tournament. Serbia’s offensive and defensive anchor. His 1.53 points per shot at the rim and 1.21 PPP in ball screens both ranked in the 93rd percentile. Listed at 6’7”, he’s a true do-it-all player who was just as effective off the ball as he was as a primary creator. His defensive versatility, combined with 24.6 points per game, capped off an outstanding tournament.

Matija Lukic 6’5” - 2009 - Floor Spacing Wing

• One of the tournament’s most efficient scorers, averaging 16.1 points per game while shooting 50% from the field and 41.9% from three on 8.9 3PA/40. Played more off the ball than Kusturica but was still a very capable ball-screen operator. Most effective attacking closeouts and leveraging his shooting gravity.

Petar Bejlica 6’8” - 2009 - Short Roll 5

• Has the foundation of a modern short-roll five. Slightly undersized to be a traditional center, but he leveraged his speed and playmaking in Serbia’s ball-screen-heavy offense to consistently create opportunities through quick decisions and roll gravity.

Türkiye

Omer Kutluay 6’4” - 2009 - Primary Creator

• One of the best prospects in the tournament. Filled the stat sheet with 28.4 points, 9.0 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game while posting just an 11.9% turnover rate despite extremely high usage. An ultra-prolific scorer, averaging 1.03 PPP in ball screens and 1.17 PPP in isolation. He generated 22.4 points per game from Pick-and-Roll + Passes possessions alone—the next closest player averaged just 13.3.

Darius Karutasu 6’7” - 2009 - Jumbo Secondary Creator)

• A do-it-all secondary creator with wing size who was arguably the tournament’s most effective scorer when combining volume and efficiency. Averaged 23.3 points per game on 50/43/80 shooting splits. Doesn’t possess an elite first step, but his size and problem-solving ability consistently allowed him to create offense.

Canada

Praise Badejo 6’0” - 2010 - Point Guard

• Another 2010-born prospect (just 16 years old) who played relatively limited minutes, but I really liked the flashes. Shot 40% from three and played primarily off the ball, though I think he’d thrive even more in a primary ball-handling role. Averaged nearly 7 points and 3 assists in only about 14 minutes per game. Displayed great pace in ball-screen situations and consistently got downhill when given the opportunity.

Isaiah Clarke 6’5” - 2009 - Slashing Wing

• Lots of potential. Led Canada in rebounding despite standing just 6’5”. Plays through contact extremely well, finishes comfortably with either hand, and also showed impressive touch on non-rim twos.

Lithuania

Lukas Siskauskas 6’3” - 2009 - Point Guard

• I wish we had gotten to see more of Siskauskas. He played just one game for Lithuania and scored 19 points in only 21 minutes. A very talented scorer with good size (6’3”) for a primary ball handler. Shoots it well and consistently gets downhill.

New Zealand

Jayden Cecil 6’3” - 2009 - Shooting Guard

• Led the tournament in scoring at 29.9 points per game while shooting 38.3% from three on an incredible 13.4 attempts per game. Probably the most prolific shooter in the event. Comfortable making shots in every way imaginable—off the bounce, out of handoffs, catch-and-shoot, and more.

Puerto Rico

Dwight Gaines 5’10” - 2009 - Two Way Guard

• Another elite scorer, averaging 25.9 points per game. While not the most efficient among the high-volume scorers, he still averaged six free-throw attempts per game while shooting 81% and also dished out 5.3 assists per game. The most impressive part of his tournament, however, was his defense. He averaged 4.9 steals per game and recorded at least six steals in five separate games.

Côte d’Ivoire

Jean-Philippe Oka 6’7” - 2009 - Slashing Forward

• High motor and a very good athlete. Averaged 3.7 offensive rebounds per game despite spending most of his time on the wing at 6’7”. Also flashed encouraging ball-handling ability for a player his size. Finished the tournament with four games of at least four stocks.

Slovenia

Jakob Siftar 6’5” - 2009 - Point Guard

• Good size for a primary ball handler at 6’5”. Scored efficiently out of ball screens and consistently got to the foul line, averaging 7.9 free-throw attempts per game. A skilled downhill attacker who finishes well with either hand.

Nejc Roznik 6’8” - 2009 - Energy Forward

• In an era where finding extra possessions is increasingly valuable, Roznik averaged 6.6 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes. He’ll need to improve his touch and finishing around the rim, but he’s already an outstanding offensive rebounder.

I’m back!

To my loyal Substack subscribers (all 70 of you), I apologize for the brief hiatus. I had the privilege of marrying my beautiful wife this past month, so I took some time away from writing and basketball philosophy deep dives to celebrate her and our marriage!

Without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s newsletter.

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It’s not Monday, but in the spirit of my “Ball Screen Monday” newsletters, I figured there would be no better way to revamp my writing than with an analysis of ball screen offense—specifically through the lens of the FIBA U17 World Cup.

For those who don’t know, the U17 World Cup wrapped up just a couple of weeks ago and featured a variety of high-powered ball screen offenses and unique concepts. I had the pleasure of watching and rewatching the majority of the games from the tournament and decided to break down what made some of the highest-volume ball screen offenses so effective.

Today we’ll look at Serbia, Türkiye, Australia, France, and China.

According to Synergy, these teams ranked as follows in Pick-and-Roll + Passes possession frequency during the tournament:

Serbia

• % Time: 35.8% (2nd)

• PPP: 0.83 (6th)

Turkey

• % Time: 33.1% (3rd)

• PPP: 0.96 (2nd)

Australia

• % Time: 29.2% (9th)

• PPP: 0.81 (9th)

France

• % Time: 29.7% (8th)

• PPP: 0.87 (4th)

China

• % Time: 37.2% (1st)

• PPP: 0.84 (5th)

There were plenty of other outstanding ball screen offenses throughout the tournament that we unfortunately won’t be discussing today. For those interested, Lithuania and Slovenia also displayed both high volume and efficiency out of ball screens, but for the sake of preventing this article from turning into a book, we’ll stick to just five teams.

SERBIA

Serbia was one of my favorite teams to study during this tournament. Their offense combined creative concepts with elite guard play from Nikola Kusturica and Matija Lukic, while bigs Petar Bejlica and Luka Miladinovic consistently manipulated screen angles and created advantages as playmakers.

Multiple Ball Screen Operators

Serbia was the only team in the tournament with four players averaging at least 6.3 possessions per game as a Pick-and-Roll + Passes operator.

They constantly mixed up who was initiating ball screens, which became especially effective when layering actions or playing through multiple ball screens within the same possession. Throughout games, I often found myself unsure who Serbia’s true primary ball handler was—and that unpredictability became one of their greatest strengths.

Instead of having to reverse the ball back to one specific creator, they simply flowed from one advantage into the next.

Twisting Screens & Roll Behinds

Serbia consistently emphasized attacking the outer thirds of the floor through creative screening angles.

Whether out of designed sets or conceptual offense, their bigs did an outstanding job twisting screens and changing angles, constantly forcing defenses to adjust on the fly.

Because defenders were almost always a step behind, Serbia’s guards consistently found opportunities to hit their bigs on roll-behind reads, where both Bejlica and Miladinovic proved to be effective finishers and playmakers.

Touch Flare → Twist Step-Up

My favorite Serbian action from the tournament was their wrinkle on the now-popular Touch Flare concept.

By twisting the ball screen out of what initially appeared to be a traditional middle-third action, Serbia consistently forced defensive rotations. Whether facing aggressive coverages or drop coverage, they attacked the outer third of the floor, creating quality scoring opportunities while also generating clean short-roll and weak-side reads.

Because defenses became so focused on chasing the screen, Serbian guards were also able to capitalize on well-timed rejects to get downhill.

Türkiye

Outside of the United States, Türkiye was the tournament’s most efficient ball screen offense.

Their success largely stemmed from three areas:

• Transition drag screens

• Middle-third ball screen actions

• Omer Kutluay

Led by star guards Omer Kutluay and Darius Karutasu, Türkiye constantly pressured defenses before they had time to get organized.

Transition Drags

Türkiye was excellent at never allowing defenses to get fully set.

While they weren’t necessarily one of the tournament’s fastest transition teams, they flowed seamlessly into secondary ball screens whenever the initial advantage disappeared. They frequently entered empty-side drag screens, keeping pressure on the defense throughout the possession.

Middle-Third Actions

Türkiye often started Kutluay and Karutasu off the ball before flowing into middle-third ball screens.

Staggers and Slice actions helped get both guards moving before immediately entering ball screens. They also layered actions that flowed into Spain Pick-and-Roll, creating numerous paint touches and rim finishes.

Boomer → Wide Pin

One of my favorite Turkish actions was this Swing action that finished with a Wide Pin.

Türkiye preferred to play out of empty-corner ball screens, and this wrinkle gave them a creative way to naturally flow into that alignment while getting their best guards downhill.

Omer Kutluay

Kutluay was the engine behind Türkiye entire ball screen offense.

He led the tournament with 11.9 points per game as a Pick-and-Roll ball handler while shooting 45% from three as the ball handler. Additionally, he averaged 22.4 points per game from Pick-and-Roll + Passes possessions—the next closest player averaged just 13.3.

His shooting ability, combined with excellent touch in the paint, made him incredibly difficult to guard. He consistently kept advantages alive against every type of coverage.

AUSTRALIA

Australia found success differently than most teams in the tournament.

While they had several well-designed actions, much of their offense flowed naturally into ball screens through Princeton concepts.

Luke Paul carried much of the offensive load, while Antonio Brown provided excellent secondary scoring and playmaking. Big man Yahya Basaran served as a key connector, helping the Australian offense flow from action to action.

Princeton Concepts

Australia generated many of its best advantages through Princeton concepts.

Whether from designed sets or conceptual offense, these actions frequently flowed directly into ball screens. The randomness and continuous movement naturally created high-quality screening opportunities.

Early Step-Ups

Often following made baskets, Australia frequently flowed into early Step-Up ball screens when they didn’t already have a set called.

I really liked this concept because it created the illusion of transition offense, often catching ball screen defenders off guard and disrupting the timing of the coverage.

SLOB Elbow Flash + Rifle

One of my favorite Australian actions was this sideline out-of-bounds set.

It initially resembles a traditional Princeton alignment before the elbow flash by the four sets up an empty-corner Rifle action with the five.

FRANCE

France was one of the most individually talented teams in the tournament, and they leaned heavily on that talent in ball screen situations.

Nathan Soliman, Aaron Towo-Nansi, Amadou Fall, and Lorenz Sanz were all excellent scorers and playmakers in Pick-and-Roll, while athletic forward Messi Yangala constantly threatened defenses as a lob target.

Middle-Third Ball Screens

France often kept things simple.

By spacing the floor and keeping the middle open, they allowed their talented guards to attack favorable matchups and create in space.

Wing-to-Top Ball Screens

France had several different ways to flow into this action.

Sometimes it developed organically, while other times it came out of designed Iverson actions. Regardless of the setup, they consistently generated advantages against a variety of defensive coverages.

Cut + Slide vs. “Next”

“Next” coverage continues to grow in popularity across international basketball.

I really liked this French set as a counter to teams trying to neutralize their scoring guards in middle-third Pick-and-Roll.

CHINA

China featured the tournament’s highest-volume ball screen offense, powered by talented bigs Yizhaojie Zhang and Boxin Zhao, along with one of the tournament’s best passers in Yuxiu Chen.

Horns

China frequently leaned into traditional Horns alignments to maximize its size.

High-low actions were a staple out of these sets, while aggressive defensive rotations often opened up quality weak-side opportunities.

5-Out Flow

Despite playing big, China was one of the tournament’s best teams at using its centers as connectors.

They flowed seamlessly from one ball screen or DHO into the next, maintaining offensive rhythm long after the initial set had ended. DHO into ball screen became one of their primary conceptual flows.

Iverson Wrap + Spain

One of my favorite actions from the tournament came from China.

This Iverson Wrap quick hitter immediately flowed into a middle-third Spain Pick-and-Roll whenever the initial look wasn’t available.

It’s a fantastic example of how coaches can layer multiple complex actions together while maintaining offensive flow.

Most Popular Action of the Tournament

By far the most common action I saw throughout the tournament was:

Boomer / Swing → Step-Up

I’ve heard this play called a dozen different names, but regardless of terminology, it’s an incredibly effective concept with countless wrinkles that coaches can build into it.

I won’t dive into every variation here, but I’ve included examples from each team. Even within those clips, you’ll notice just how many different options exist off the same basic framework.

Final Thoughts

One of the biggest takeaways from studying this tournament was that the best ball screen offenses weren’t necessarily the ones running the most complicated plays—they were the ones layering simple concepts together.

Whether it was Serbia manipulating screen angles, Türkiye flowing from transition into secondary action, Australia connecting Princeton concepts to ball screens, France trusting elite creators, or China chaining together DHOs and Spain actions, each team found a different answer to the same question:

How do we create an advantage—and more importantly, how do we sustain it?

Hopefully these clips and concepts give you a few new ideas to experiment with in your own offense this season.

Welcome back to another Ball Screen Monday!

For those new subscribers, every Monday we analyze a specific ball screen action and the different ways it can be utilized to create the advantage your offense is hunting.

This week’s action: Guard-to-Guard Ball Screens

More specifically, we’re looking at how to attack switching defenses and create the matchup you want through guard-to-guard screening actions.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve started these breakdowns by showing how we incorporated the action during my time at Portland State, and that’s where we’ll start again today.

We typically entered this action in one of two ways. Either we flowed into it from a wide pin or ram screen from the corner, or we simply initiated it directly from the strong side without the initial screen.

There were two primary reasons this action was successful for us.

The first was the pace of the screener. If our screener isn’t sprinting into the action, it’s much more difficult to create an advantage. The faster the screener arrives, the more pressure it places on defenders trying to communicate and execute the switch.

Speaking of pressure, I found this action particularly difficult to guard because it creates two separate pressure points on the defense: the on-ball defenders’ ability to communicate the switch and the weak-side defenders’ decision-making regarding when and where to help.

We generated several drop-off layups for our bigs out of this action because our weak-side guard was lifted, creating a very difficult tag on the ensuing rotation. You’ll also see in one of these clips that the defense sends two defenders to the ball immediately. We counter by throwing it to the popping screener, which forces the weak-side rotation toward the guard rather than the big.

The more information you can force a defense in rotation to process, the better your chances of creating an advantage.

Another way to utilize guard-to-guard middle ball screens is to take a page from the Spurs’ offensive playbook.

Placing the guard you want attacking downhill as the screener is another effective way to leverage a switching defense’s principles against itself.

This version of the concept is less about creating confusion and more about banking on the fact that the defense will guard it correctly.

When executed properly, with good screening angles and by staying below the switch, Castle creates a perfect 4-on-3 advantage. Creating contact as the screener is critical in this scenario, as it forces the defense to honor the switch and prevents them from slipping through the action.

The versatility of this concept is one of the reasons I love it so much. Its ability to be implemented with a variety of personnel groupings and the numerous ways it can create an advantage make it an incredibly valuable tool. That’s why you see so much of it throughout the NBA.

Of course, it wouldn’t be right to discuss this action without mentioning the 2022 Warriors.

The Warriors were one of the first teams to truly popularize this concept within their offense.

By leveraging Stephen Curry’s gravity and Jordan Poole’s ability to create chaos, they consistently put defenses in difficult situations. Gary Payton II was the perfect complement, using guard-to-guard ball screens to get downhill quickly and make excellent decisions in advantage situations.

The Warriors often flowed into these actions from empty-corner step-ups or traditional empty-side ball screens, placing even more pressure on the on-ball defenders’ ability to switch effectively. They also frequently executed these actions in transition, further stressing the weak side defenders ability to tag, who was often a step late in providing help. The Warriors version of this play combines the emphasis from the previous two examples. Emphasizing the importance of the pace of the screener as well as creating contact to force switches.

It’s a great example of how a relatively simple action can create a variety of advantages when paired with proper spacing, timing, and personnel.

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Basketball offenses have evolved beyond simply running a play.

The best offenses in the NBA, college basketball, and increasingly at the high school level aren’t looking to generate a single advantage. They’re looking to generate multiple advantages within the same possession.

Layering actions and compounding multiple movements across the floor has become commonplace at every level of basketball.

Rather than attacking one area of the floor, modern offenses are designed to stretch defensive decision-making across all five defenders.

The goal isn’t simply to beat the defense once.

The goal is to make the defense solve problems repeatedly until it eventually breaks.

The game is spreading out. Players can shoot from farther distances than ever before, and teams increasingly have shooting threats at all five positions. Offenses have adapted by finding new ways to leverage that space through the actions they layer together.

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The Shift From Plays to Possessions

The conceptual offense revolution has changed the way coaches think about a successful possession. In reality, conceptual offense has always existed—people just didn’t have a name for it yet.

Traditionally, a possession often looked something like this:

• Run a play

• Generate a shot

• Possession ends

Today, possessions often look more like this:

• Initial action

• Secondary action

• Tertiary action

• Advantage continuation

What’s interesting is that the game itself hasn’t fundamentally changed. Teams have always flowed from one action into another.

What has changed is the emphasis.

Modern offenses are increasingly focused on maintaining advantages rather than simply creating them. Success is no longer defined solely by whether the initial action works. It’s defined by how well an offense can keep pressure on the defense throughout the possession.

The best offenses create advantages all over the floor—not just between the two players directly involved in the action.

Every Action Creates Information

It would feel wrong to discuss layered offense without starting with Dan Hurley’s Huskies.

Under Hurley, UConn has built one of the most dynamic offensive systems in basketball. At times it can feel chaotic, but that’s precisely what makes it effective.

For this first clip, I want to focus on the end of the possession. Solomon Ball comes off a pin-down screen—the third player to do so during the possession—and finds himself open because of how every action UConn uses forces defenders to process new information.

If the pass is thrown to Alex Karaban curling to the basket, Gayle must be ready to tag All-Conference center Tarris Reed rolling to the rim. Instead, he is forced to recover and chase Solomon Ball flying off a pin-down.

Some of the best offenses force defenders to process an overwhelming amount of information within a single possession. Gayle is asked to recognize a tag responsibility, recover to his assignment, and then navigate an off-ball screen sequence—all within a matter of seconds.

That split-second hesitation is ultimately what creates the advantage.

The same idea shows up in this next clip.

In just a few seconds, Aday Mara has to process a DHO coverage, a wide pin help responsibility, and ultimately a middle-third drive rotation. The accumulation of those responsibilities is what leaves one of the most prolific shot blockers in college basketball last year standing outside the paint and a step late helping on Silas Demary’s drive.

The best offenses don’t simply create movement.

They create decisions.

And then they create more decisions before the defense can fully process the first one.

Using the Entire Floor

You can’t watch much UConn film without eventually losing your mind trying to keep up with all of the movement. I’m sure opposing defenses felt the same way.

What makes the Huskies so difficult to guard is that every offensive action creates pressure somewhere. Elite offenses layer actions so pressure exists everywhere.

Layered offense isn’t simply about running more actions. It’s about ensuring that every area of the floor remains a threat throughout the possession.

Rim

• Lob threats

• Dunker spot occupation

• Baseline cuts

Paint

• Short rolls

• Middle drives

• Nail occupation

Perimeter

• Relocations

• Shake actions

• Hammer actions

Weak Side

• 45 cuts

• Lift actions

• Slot exchanges

Every offensive action creates pressure somewhere.

Elite offenses layer actions so pressure exists everywhere.

Take the Spurs, for example.

Step-Up + 45 Cut

Cason Wallace and Jared McCain’s responsibilities completely change the moment the 45 cut occurs.

Wallace goes from helping to contain Wemby’s drive to suddenly becoming the lone weak-side defender responsible for closing out and protecting multiple offensive threats.

One action creates help.

The next action attacks the help.

DHO/Ball Screen + Pin Step-Up

These are two great examples of the Spurs using the entire floor.

The Thunder are forced to defend both sides of the floor because they must respect the initial action in case Harper, Champagnie, or Vassell create an advantage from it.

What the initial action ultimately accomplishes is pulling defenders higher and farther from their off-ball responsibilities. When they attempt to recover, they’re late.

The offense never directly attacks the recovery.

The offense creates conditions that make recovery difficult.

5-Out

The Thunder themselves created numerous advantages throughout the postseason using 5-Out spacing.

In this example, Oklahoma City changes sides of the floor twice within a matter of seconds before flowing into a wide pin involving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein.

Notice how the initial action pulls defensive attention toward the strong side.

That gravity ultimately opens the window for Hartenstein rolling to the basket.

The entire floor is being manipulated simultaneously.

Exit Screens & Wide Pins

The Warriors are masters at pairing screening actions together.

Whether it’s an exit screen flowing simultaneously with a ball screen or a wide pin occurring alongside another action, Golden State consistently forces defenses to account for every area of the floor at once.

I included an example of the Suns running the same action as well.

The result is defenders constantly being asked to process multiple responsibilities simultaneously.

The Suns also do this frequently through Delay actions, often beginning on an empty side before flowing into a secondary wide pin action on the other side of the floor.

Leveraging Defensive Principles

Great offenses don’t just attack defenses.

They attack the rules those defenses are taught to follow.

This Thunder possession is an example.

The action begins looking like a traditional Horns Ball Screen/Flare combination. Wallace initially uses the screen as though he intends to turn the corner, only to drive directly at Carter Bryant and flow into a DHO with SGA.

That subtle manipulation creates just enough hesitation for Bryant to become half a step late defending the ensuing ball screen.

The more offenses can use a defense’s own principles against them, the more confusion they create.

In this case, Oklahoma City weaponizes the very gap-help principles the defense is attempting to execute.

Always Have Multiple Options

The ability to maintain advantages is predicated on having multiple options available within every advantage.

It also makes advantages easier to create in the first place.

A ball-screen possession like this one from TCU is effective because it accomplishes several things simultaneously:

• Engages all five defenders

• Utilizes the entire floor

• Creates multiple decision points

• Forces defenders to guard consecutive actions within the same sequence

Iverson Empty - Step-Up

Even if the first option isn’t available, the possession continues.

The advantage survives.

And that’s ultimately what separates good offenses from great ones.

Conclusion

The most effective offenses aren’t necessarily the ones with the most complicated playbooks.

They’re the ones that can continuously place defenders in conflict.

One action forces a decision.

The next action punishes that decision.

The action after that punishes the recovery.

Possession after possession, the offense forces the defense to cover more ground, process more information, and communicate more often.

Eventually, something breaks.

That’s the essence of modern offense—not creating a single advantage, but compounding advantages until the defense can no longer keep up.

In this video, I break down what makes Oso such a valuable piece for the Phoenix Suns and why his screening, short-roll playmaking, and connective skills make him one of the more intriguing young bigs in the NBA.

From creating advantages without needing touches to thriving as a modern “connector” big, we’ll dive into the film and explore why Oso’s value may be larger than many fans realize.

For the record, I am much more of a college basketball enthusiast than an NBA Draft expert. One thing that has stood out to me throughout this draft cycle, however, is how little Richie Saunders has been discussed relative to his production.

Obviously, age, injury concerns, and a lack of elite physical tools have all limited his draft buzz. Those concerns are fair. Still, Saunders was nothing short of one of the most productive and efficient scorers in college basketball last season.

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Shooting by the Numbers

Richie Saunders was one of only 10 Power Conference players last season to post a True Shooting Percentage of at least 63% while attempting 8.5 or more three-pointers per 40 minutes. Among that group, he ranked second in points per 40 minutes.

Additionally, Saunders was one of only two players in that same group to also post a Free Throw Attempt Rate of at least 35%, highlighting not only his perimeter shooting ability but also his effectiveness at generating rim pressure. He also finished an impressive 67% of his attempts at the rim.

The combination of high-volume shooting, elite efficiency, and consistent rim pressure provides a strong statistical foundation for his NBA projection.

NBA Play Style

Saunders projects as a prototypical floor-spacing possession finisher at the NBA level.

An overwhelming 90.5% of his field goal attempts last season came either at the rim or from beyond the three-point line, reflecting the type of shot profile NBA teams covet for his archetype. While Saunders was assisted on the majority of his made baskets, the numbers do not suggest a player who is completely dependent on others to create offense.

34.1% of his made two-point field goals were assisted (64th percentile) and 92.2% of his made three-pointers were assisted (65th percentile), reinforcing his projection as a high-level off-ball floor spacer.

Saunders also converted 44.1% of his corner three-point attempts, another indicator that his offensive gravity should translate well to an NBA role.

Defense

Defense is unlikely to be Saunders’ calling card at the next level, but there are indicators that suggest he can hold his own.

While steal percentage can sometimes be misleading, Saunders posted a strong 3.1% STL%, which, when paired with his reported +5-inch wingspan, points toward solid physicals and the ability to disrupt passing lanes on the perimeter.

Additionally, his 0.93x Personal Foul Efficiency (90th percentile) is noteworthy. Saunders consistently avoided unnecessary fouls while remaining engaged defensively, a valuable trait for role players expected to stay on the floor.

NBA Comparison

When projecting Saunders’ offensive role, players such as Cameron Johnson, AJ Green, Max Strus, and Will Richard come to mind.

This comparison is not necessarily about overall talent level, but rather the archetype: floor-spacing wings who thrive playing alongside higher-usage creators, make quick decisions, punish defensive mistakes, and provide offensive value without requiring heavy on-ball responsibility.

On-Off Impact and Complementary Value

With Saunders on the floor, BYU was better in nearly every meaningful offensive category. Most notably the following listed below.

Off —> On

ORTG: 114.3—>125.3

TS%: 56.9%—>59.6%

A:T Ratio: 1.06—>1.39

The offensive improvements are significant, but what may be even more impressive is Saunders’ ability to elevate the players around him.

There may be no better example than fellow BYU star and potential No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa saw increases in TS%, 2P%, 3P%, and FTAr when sharing the floor with Saunders, illustrating the value of Saunders’ spacing, gravity, and willingness to play within a complementary role.

Elite complementary players are difficult to find, and Saunders consistently demonstrated an ability to make life easier for those around him.

The Film

Saunders’ floor-spacing ability is amplified by the speed of his release and his willingness to fire immediately off the catch. His ability to elevate on his catch & shoot shots is also something I believe will translate well.

His ability to quickly get into his shot forces defenses to close out aggressively, creating additional opportunities for him to attack off the bounce.

When defenders run him off the line, Saunders does an excellent job leveraging his shooting gravity to create straight-line drives to the rim. While he may not possess elite burst, he consistently capitalizes on defensive overreactions and attacks open space effectively. Saunders does an excellent job of winning foot races when he does catch on the move which allows him to create straight-line drives for himself.

Development Areas

One area that may limit Saunders early in his NBA career is his ability to generate a second drive after contact.

Because so much of his interior scoring comes directly at the rim, the increased size, athleticism, and physicality of NBA defenders could create adjustment challenges. At the college level, Saunders often benefited from being stronger and more physically mature than his opponents.

Developing greater explosiveness through contact, improving his ability to re-accelerate after initial bumps, and expanding his intermediate scoring package could help offset some of those concerns.

Final Thoughts

As someone who is more familiar with the college game rather than NBA draft boards, Richie Saunders has been one of the more surprising cases of this draft cycle.

The concerns are understandable. He’s older than the typical prospect, suffered a significant injury, and doesn’t possess the type of elite physical tools that usually drive draft buzz.

At the same time, it’s difficult to ignore what Saunders actually produced on the court.

He was one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in college basketball, combining elite shooting volume, strong rim finishing, and an ability to generate free throws at a level rarely seen from players who occupy a similar offensive role. His shot profile, floor-spacing ability, and offensive efficiency all align with the types of complementary wings that continue to carve out long NBA careers.

Saunders may never be a primary creator or a player offenses are built around, but the NBA has consistently found value in wings who can space the floor, attack closeouts, make quick decisions, and fit seamlessly alongside stars.

Whether he ultimately hears his name called in the late first round, second round, or enters the league through a two-way contract, Saunders feels like the type of prospect whose production and NBA-ready skill set could allow him to outperform his draft slot.

Graphics via cbbanalytics.com

The Pac-12 is back, and Oregon State has reloaded with the hiring of new head coach Justin Joyner.

One of the more intriguing additions to the roster is 6’6” guard/wing DeShawn Gory, a transfer from Fresno State. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from Gory this season, as well as why his unique shot profile and natural positional size make him a very intriguing prospect.

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Physical Attributes

A true freshman last season, Gory is listed at 6’6”, 165 pounds and provides excellent positional size as a combo guard utilizing 16.7% of his possessions as a pick-and-roll ball handler.

Gory’s long arms help him finish effectively around the rim and in the paint, while his solid vertical pop further enhances his scoring ability.

High-Usage Freshman

Gory took on significantly more offensive responsibility as a true freshman than most players around the country.

In conference play, his 25.9% usage% made him one of only 23 freshmen across the top 10 conferences (via KenPom) to carry that level of offensive responsibility. Combine that with a 17.7% assist rate and an 11.8% turnover rate, and Gory joins a group of only 10 freshmen that includes AJ Dybantsa, Cam Boozer, Mikel Brown Jr., and Nigel James Jr.

Unique Shot Profile

Gory found himself in a Fresno State offense that didn’t do him many favors last season. The Bulldogs ranked near the bottom of the conference in offensive efficiency, which makes his scoring profile even more impressive.

His effectiveness as a finisher at the rim, combined with his ability to take and make non-rim twos, highlights his scoring upside. I’m not saying he’s on the same level as these players, but when thinking about the diversity of his 2-point scoring package, names like Darius Acuff, Kingston Flemings, and Otega Oweh come to mind.

Gory’s Conference Shot Profile

At the Rim

• 4.0 FGA/40

• 64.6 FG%

Paint 2s

• 5.3 FGA/40 (98th percentile)

• 56.3 FG% (83rd percentile)

Mid-Range 2s

• 2.7 FGA/40 (96th percentile)

• 47.7 FG% (74th percentile)

Gory posting efficient numbers at the rim without heavily relying on those attempts within his overall shot diet points to significant scoring upside.

He also shows the makings of a high-level advantage creator. A large majority of Gory’s scoring comes from shots he creates for himself. It’s important to highlight just how low his assisted 2-point percentage is, a metric that has received increased attention in prospect evaluation circles. Ajay Mitchell is a recent example of a player whose self-created scoring translated well.

DeShawn Gory Made FG Assisted %

• 2P Assisted %: 27.7% (8th percentile)

• 3P Assisted %: 56.3% (2nd percentile)

• Total FGM Assisted %: 38.6% (5th percentile)

Among freshmen in those same conferences, Gory was one of only 14 players to average at least 8.8 unassisted points per game while posting a field-goal assisted rate below 38.7%.

Gory’s combination of efficiency and self-created offense is a major reason why I believe he has a bright future as an advantage creator.

Play-Type Diversity

Gory’s 0.99 PPP as a pick-and-roll ball handler ranked in the 83rd percentile, showcasing good pace, the ability to change height levels with the ball, and comfort operating with the ball in his hands.

He was also an accomplished transition threat, both on and off the ball. Gory posted 1.25 PPP in transition possessions last season, an impressive figure considering Fresno State ranked only in the 50th percentile nationally in fast-break points per game.

Additionally, Gory posted 1.00 PPP on spot-up drives. While he showed a tendency to favor his right hand over his left, the overall framework is encouraging, especially given his struggles as a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter.

Drives Right: 37 possessions, 1.13 PPP

Drives Left: 35 possessions, 0.80 PPP

Rebounding

Another noteworthy aspect of Gory’s profile is his defensive rebounding.

He averaged 8.1 defensive rebounds per 40 minutes and posted a 23.0% defensive rebounding rate, ranking in the 95th and 93rd percentiles nationally, respectively.

Development Needs

That said, Gory still has significant room for growth as a shooter.

A 23.7% three-point percentage and 68.9% free-throw percentage are far from ideal. If he develops into a consistent perimeter shooter, his scoring ceiling rises considerably.

The encouraging part is that he’s willing to take threes. Half the battle is getting players comfortable shooting them, and Gory already posted a 27.2% three-point attempt rate. Circling back to his 3P Assisted %, I expect his three-point percentage to improve as he receives a higher volume of quality assisted catch-and-shoot opportunities.

Additionally, you’d like to see his 21.9% free-throw rate increase as he gets older, stronger, and adds more weight.

Final Thoughts

Gory possesses many of the tools that project toward becoming a high-level scoring and playmaking advantage creator.

Considering he accomplished all of this as a true freshman, I’m excited to see how his game develops under Justin Joyner at Oregon State.

Look for Gory to be a very impactful player for the Beavers this season.

One of the headlines for the Oklahoma City Thunder this postseason has been the rise of Jared McCain, particularly in this series with the Spurs.

One thing I find super interesting about McCain — and what I think has contributed to OKC’s success with him on the floor — is the randomness/chaos element he adds offensively, along with his ability to thrive in lineups both with and without SGA.

During the playoffs + through Game 3 of the Spurs series. When McCain and Caruso share the floor, the Thunder’s 3-point frequency jumps by +11.6%. (Caruso deserves a ton of credit here as well.)

In 70 playoff minutes together, McCain + Caruso lineups have posted a +35.5 increase in ORTG. On raw numbers, that’s the 14th-highest 2-man ORTG jump. The next closest lineup in that top 14 only having 39 minutes. Using databallr’s “padded” feature said lineup ranks 12th in increase in ORTG this postseason.

Now insert the MVP.

Very limited sample size, but in 26 playoff minutes featuring SGA + Caruso + McCain, the Thunder are:

• +18.9 in 3P Frequency

• +5.8 ORTG (Padded)

Some of the Thunders other more high usage + high increase in ORTG lineups are shown below both reflecting a decrease in 3P Frequency at -4.4 & -4.2.

Certain lineups featuring McCain reflect a distinct change in the Thunder’s typical shot diet while still maintaining elite offensive production. Against the Spurs (specifically last game), those minutes have been difficult to guard.

With conceptual offensive concepts becoming more & more popular throughout college, high school, & youth basketball Jared McCain is a great case study for players looking to learn how to be effective not only through conceptual movement patterns in general, but also how screen navigation, cutting misdirection, and the willingness to give up the ball can take one’s ability to create advantages to the next level.

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Willingness to give up the ball

The first thing that stands out to me about Jared McCain’s offensive skillset is his ability to create advantages off of the “Get” action. I could do a full breakdown of all of the nuances of the Get Action, but essentially at its core is when the ball handler passes to another player & immediately sprints into a handoff.

In this clips you’ll see McCains willingness to give up the ball & how his ability to change directions off of this action allow him to create advantages for himself.

Credit to Hartenstein in these clips as well.

Elite Relocation as a weapon

Another thing that has made McCain effective on offense for the Thunder particularly in lineups with SGA is how he is able to initiate action as a primary ball handler, but ultimately how he’s able to relocate off of his initial drives & the subsequent drive of the next Thunder offensive player.

Acceleration/Deceleration through Screen Navigation

Tying back to the first segment McCains ability to navigate screens off-ball has been elite these playoffs particularly the way he’s able to keep defenders off balance through his ability to start & stop.

McCains has proven to be able to hit shots on the move with pace which is already a valuable skill, but where he takes it to another level is actually how McCain is able to counter and stop his momentum when defenders are able to keep up with his initial movement.